Great Interview example - Sarah & Stephen. I was thinking, In the self-cleaning park idea, we can introduce karma points for good parkizens. Karma points for collecting waste and maintaining the park and later that can be reimbursed for the items in the vending machine.
The points covered looked more like designing a park for the future. One follow up question could have been the if the park has a dedicated user group like kids park, elderly park etc, this could have changed the pain points and the solutions. A lot points like Parking, basic amenities like restrooms, feeding rooms for kids, food places etc were not covered. The park app could have an option of connecting parents who want to have a play date for their kids if it were a kid's part. Any thoughts?
Metrics for success tracking cohorts number of people entering park Amount of time people spending in park Same time with new features compare to past time with out new features
People go to parks to have fun in nature or get some non commercial peace, might just be my pov but this sounds like it's making even otherwise static, city parks even more controlled, similar and boring.
Hi Sarah and Stephen...thanks for the videos...really helpful. I think one of the other pain-point that can be addressed is the Parking...the Mobile app can have stats around # of parkings available vs lanes where parking is full vs parking available, pay for parking via app etc.. This would provide the hi-tech experience and also improve user experience
Really solid interview!! The idea generation was awesome, some really out of the box thinking, especially the park maintainer user group! Well done! Definitely learned a lot from this one
Great question! I think it depends on your personal brainstorming style, how wide the question is (future vision vs. product iteration), and what is going to work best for you to demonstrate your creativity, user empathy and decision making capabilities through this question. For me, I liked having the full set of user pain points to play with because sometimes the way they work off each other can inspire ideas for me and it let my mind go big with an entire new vision for a Park. I also think an answer taking the alternative approach of just picking one pain point and focusing there could be a very strong one as well! It would be better at giving your brainstorming constraints, which often actually helps with creativity, and at making sure you are really coming up with a pain-point driven solution. I think the most important thing, no matter which approach you take, is to make sure what you're proposing as potential solutions aren't just "cool" ideas but that it's clear that they are founded in the goal of the product and the user context/pain points and that the approach you take works for your personal style as a PM and what you want to demonstrate through answering this question. Would be interested in hearing other people's perspectives here as well. Hope this helps!
That makes sense but might cut points on prioritization skills. Choosing a pain point based on needs, value proposition demonstrates your prioritization skills. You can talk more in detail about your solutions and it is how you can shine in an interview. When you have limited time and resources as PM you deal with one pain point at a time. Drilling on a specific pain point and talking about it can be more challenging, but if you can do a good job at it, you will nail the interview. With that being said, you can still talk about different pain points and just like Sarah mentioned, demonstrate creativity, user empathy and decision-making capabilities.
The way the interview went was she looked at the problem then at target users and their key drivers. From there pointed out a few pain points and high level solutions. Then she described why she chose the app and not the hardware. Then she basically went into a case study about the app with a few leading questions. You can imagine this process as a funnel where you’re churning at each stage to reach your goal. It feels like a good opportunity to showcase your thinking and what you can do in limited time and in unstable environment. Feels appropriate for a team where product managers are the more creative counterparts of project managers. You’re still supposed to manage a process but not necessarily with the same constraints. In teams where the two roles are used as substitutes, I’d agree with a more streamlined approach since the beginning, perhaps something closer to the analysis a consultant would do for a product.
It depends on how far you want to take it. If the focus is on high tech experience , I would think about how to make the park experience wholesome. 1. Include eating, shopping and entertainment in the park. 2. Curate a personalized experience for visitors based on their preferences 3. Give them mood detecting bracelets and recommend nearby activities based on it. 4. For families with kids , design a play area where parents can chose to leave their kids with a supervising robot for a sitter. The robot is able to detect conflict, danger etc. One has to keep in mind that it's easy to comment on an interview, but tougher when you are put on spot :-)
Hey guys, thanks a million for your sharing experiences with us, Actually I've a complex question, I kept a long time about 20 years in the field of database and web programming, actually my experience is extremely mixed in all corners of the field, and most of the time I was handling products alone, this is a good hmmm and bad hmmm in the same time, since at all cases I've always a full Visio inside my mind regarding all products aspects, but what's bad is the lack of communication plan and activities, recently I'm so interested in the role of VP product manager, and need to know what's the most personal skills for the role, the most challenging situations may one face, the most responsibilities a company relying on me .... Many thanks
Went to the website of "The Bach", and as of June 2020, it seems like an underwhelming product. IMO this person can give a good interview, but may not have the skill set to deliver a high quality product with a team.
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Great Interview example - Sarah & Stephen. I was thinking, In the self-cleaning park idea, we can introduce karma points for good parkizens. Karma points for collecting waste and maintaining the park and later that can be reimbursed for the items in the vending machine.
Oh that confidence while doing the interview ! She literally owned it !
Yes, we loved that about Sarah too!
Please make an interview on
Question : how to design a refrigerator for blind people
Thanks, Sarah it was really great interview example! Stephen - thanks for going that, please continue!
Thanks for the positive note, Sergey! Be sure to check out more of these videos at tryexponent.com/course
Thank you, Sergey, happy it was helpful!
Liked the creativity and looked like a real example Vs some of the other interview videos that look rehearsed
Great job Sarah! Loved your brainstorming.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I feel senior people and handicapped could be considered over here!
The points covered looked more like designing a park for the future. One follow up question could have been the if the park has a dedicated user group like kids park, elderly park etc, this could have changed the pain points and the solutions. A lot points like Parking, basic amenities like restrooms, feeding rooms for kids, food places etc were not covered. The park app could have an option of connecting parents who want to have a play date for their kids if it were a kid's part. Any thoughts?
Think was good, but I do believe she could have prompted more, to see if she was going on the right direction or not
Metrics for success tracking cohorts number of people entering park
Amount of time people spending in park
Same time with new features compare to past time with out new features
People go to parks to have fun in nature or get some non commercial peace, might just be my pov but this sounds like it's making even otherwise static, city parks even more controlled, similar and boring.
Hi Sarah and Stephen...thanks for the videos...really helpful. I think one of the other pain-point that can be addressed is the Parking...the Mobile app can have stats around # of parkings available vs lanes where parking is full vs parking available, pay for parking via app etc.. This would provide the hi-tech experience and also improve user experience
Good point!
Really solid interview!! The idea generation was awesome, some really out of the box thinking, especially the park maintainer user group! Well done! Definitely learned a lot from this one
She killed this! Awesome interview!
Great interview
Shouldn't we just prioritize one pain point and find features for it ?
Great question! I think it depends on your personal brainstorming style, how wide the question is (future vision vs. product iteration), and what is going to work best for you to demonstrate your creativity, user empathy and decision making capabilities through this question. For me, I liked having the full set of user pain points to play with because sometimes the way they work off each other can inspire ideas for me and it let my mind go big with an entire new vision for a Park. I also think an answer taking the alternative approach of just picking one pain point and focusing there could be a very strong one as well! It would be better at giving your brainstorming constraints, which often actually helps with creativity, and at making sure you are really coming up with a pain-point driven solution.
I think the most important thing, no matter which approach you take, is to make sure what you're proposing as potential solutions aren't just "cool" ideas but that it's clear that they are founded in the goal of the product and the user context/pain points and that the approach you take works for your personal style as a PM and what you want to demonstrate through answering this question.
Would be interested in hearing other people's perspectives here as well. Hope this helps!
That makes sense but might cut points on prioritization skills. Choosing a pain point based on needs, value proposition demonstrates your prioritization skills. You can talk more in detail about your solutions and it is how you can shine in an interview. When you have limited time and resources as PM you deal with one pain point at a time. Drilling on a specific pain point and talking about it can be more challenging, but if you can do a good job at it, you will nail the interview.
With that being said, you can still talk about different pain points and just like Sarah mentioned, demonstrate creativity, user empathy and decision-making capabilities.
The way the interview went was she looked at the problem then at target users and their key drivers. From there pointed out a few pain points and high level solutions. Then she described why she chose the app and not the hardware. Then she basically went into a case study about the app with a few leading questions. You can imagine this process as a funnel where you’re churning at each stage to reach your goal. It feels like a good opportunity to showcase your thinking and what you can do in limited time and in unstable environment.
Feels appropriate for a team where product managers are the more creative counterparts of project managers. You’re still supposed to manage a process but not necessarily with the same constraints. In teams where the two roles are used as substitutes, I’d agree with a more streamlined approach since the beginning, perhaps something closer to the analysis a consultant would do for a product.
Thanks Sarah and Stephen for this mock interview.
I think Seniors also go to park for Walk? Due to health ..?.
This was a great interview! I learned a lot and worked with the interviewer on the problem
😂
How can i become VP of product please give me reply Mam.
MBA is mandatory for VP Role.
This is a high tech park design experience ..how to build good features and all ...and she is talking about useless pain points ...!!!
Ankita Sharma totally agree
Would you mind to share how would you approach this
differently?
This is an open question just a demonstration of how you should approach a question.
It depends on how far you want to take it. If the focus is on high tech experience , I would think about how to make the park experience wholesome.
1. Include eating, shopping and entertainment in the park.
2. Curate a personalized experience for visitors based on their preferences
3. Give them mood detecting bracelets and recommend nearby activities based on it.
4. For families with kids , design a play area where parents can chose to leave their kids with a supervising robot for a sitter. The robot is able to detect conflict, danger etc.
One has to keep in mind that it's easy to comment on an interview, but tougher when you are put on spot :-)
Hey guys, thanks a million for your sharing experiences with us,
Actually I've a complex question,
I kept a long time about 20 years in the field of database and web programming, actually my experience is extremely mixed in all corners of the field, and most of the time I was handling products alone, this is a good hmmm and bad hmmm in the same time, since at all cases I've always a full Visio inside my mind regarding all products aspects, but what's bad is the lack of communication plan and activities, recently I'm so interested in the role of VP product manager, and need to know what's the most personal skills for the role, the most challenging situations may one face, the most responsibilities a company relying on me .... Many thanks
Went to the website of "The Bach", and as of June 2020, it seems like an underwhelming product. IMO this person can give a good interview, but may not have the skill set to deliver a high quality product with a team.